{"id":2024698,"date":"2023-09-07T14:14:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:14:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-state-affiliated-social-media-users-successfully-impersonating-us-voters-microsoft-warns\/"},"modified":"2023-09-07T14:18:37","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T18:18:37","slug":"chinese-state-affiliated-social-media-users-successfully-impersonating-us-voters-microsoft-warns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-state-affiliated-social-media-users-successfully-impersonating-us-voters-microsoft-warns\/","title":{"rendered":"Microsoft warns that Chinese state-affiliated social media users have been able to successfully impersonate US voters."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fchinese-state-affiliated-social-media-users-successfully-impersonating-us-voters-microsoft-warns%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2024698&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Microsoft Warns of Chinese State-Affiliated Actors Impersonating U.S. Voters<\/h2>\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/chinese-state-affiliated-social-media-users-successfully-impersonating-us-voters-microsoft-warns\/\" title=\"Microsoft warns that Chinese state-affiliated social media users have been able to successfully impersonate US voters.\">recent threat intelligence report published<\/a> by Microsoft, the organization highlighted\u2063 the growing capabilities of Chinese and North Korean state\u2064 actors to disrupt the United States and its allies. Of particular\u200c concern were the \u200cChinese social media campaigns, which have \u2064now gained the ability \u2063to impersonate U.S. voters and exert influence on the U.S. electoral\u200b system.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;Chinese online influence campaigns have long relied on sheer volume to\u200b reach users through networks of inauthentic social media accounts,&#8221; the report stated. &#8220;Since\u2062 2022, however, China-aligned social media networks have engaged directly with authentic \u2063users on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/im-kind-of-a-jerk-carlson-mocks-implosion-of-2-gop-hopefuls-during-interview-with-beck\/\" title=\"Carlson ridicules downfall of 2 GOP candidates in chat with Beck\">social \u200cmedia<\/a>, targeted specific candidates in \u200dcontent\u2063 about U.S.\u200c elections, and posed \u2062as \u200bAmerican voters.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This new tactic \u200cwas first observed prior to\u200c the 2022 midterm elections. Microsoft identified several behaviors that indicated the users&#8217; status as Chinese agents, such as posting in Mandarin initially before switching to another language, \u2062engaging with content from other China-aligned assets immediately after posting,\u2064 and utilizing a &#8220;seed and amplifier&#8221;\u200c pattern of interaction.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these recognizable patterns, the users displayed a level of sophistication\u2064 that deviated\u200c from previous behaviors,\u2062 making them less obvious. The \u200dreport\u200c explained, &#8220;Unlike earlier \u2062 [influence operation] \u2062 campaigns from CCP-affiliated actors that \u2064used easy-to-spot computer-generated handles, display names, \u200band profile \u200dpictures, these more \u2064sophisticated \u200baccounts are \u2064operated by real people who employ fictitious or stolen identities to conceal the\u200b accounts&#8217; affiliation with the CCP.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft believes that the \u200cbehavior of these accounts indicates their association \u2063with an elite group within \u2063the Chinese Ministry of\u200c Public Security known\u2062 as\u200b the 912 Special Project Working \u200cGroup. This group is known for operating a troll \u2062farm and\u200b creating fake \u2063online personas to target pro-democracy\u2062 users.<\/p>\n<p>While the new fake accounts are more\u200c sophisticated than previous iterations, they still exhibit weaknesses. For instance, \u200bMicrosoft provided an example of a Chinese operative \u200cposing as\u200c a U.S. conservative voter, whose post contained confusing and inauthentic-sounding wording\u200d that a genuine U.S. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/burning-man-ceo-says-there-is-no-cause-for-panic-amid-chaos\/\" title=\"Burning Man CEO assures no need to panic amidst chaos.\">social \u200cmedia account<\/a> would be unlikely to use.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;America would not exist without the long\u2062 work of the black people. I think Biden is \u200dvery extreme. In the coming days,\u2063 if the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/john-oliver-tells-white-americans-to-march-in-the-streets-and-demand-a-better-country\/\" title=\"John Oliver Tells White Americans To \u2018March In The Streets And Demand A Better Country\u2019\">black people continue<\/a> to be discriminated against, whoever caused it will pay the price,&#8221; the example post read.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>This text was accompanied by \u200ba Black Lives Matter graphic with similarly confusing wording, stating, &#8220;Most\u200d black people are \u200dkilled by police \u200din the\u2062 name of traffic safety.&#8221; Interestingly, the \u2063graphic had been uploaded \u2062by a\u200c more obvious automated CCP-linked account just hours earlier.<\/p>\n<p>The Microsoft report\u200d also highlighted that the Chinese impersonators have started using artificial intelligence-generated images to enhance \u2064their reach. One example image depicted an imposing-looking Statue of Liberty holding \u2063a \u2063torch and gun, with one hand having more than five fingers, accompanied by the strange text, &#8220;Democratic\u200c and freedoms &#8230; Everything is being thrown away &#8230; The Goddess of Violence.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It is worth noting that China is not the only\u2062 country engaging in influence operation campaigns, as Russia and even pro-U.S. actors have been\u2062 found doing the same in\u200d the past. In a recent incident, \u2064X and Meta took down a\u200d vast network of accounts\u200c involved in a covert pro-U.S. propaganda campaign targeting the \u2064Middle \u200cEast and Central Asia. However,\u200d it remains unknown whether this network was connected to U.S. intelligence.<\/p>\n<h3>Antitrust Case of the Century: What \u200bto Expect as Justice Department \u200dv. Google\u200c Case Begins<\/h3>\n<p>For\u200c more information\u200b on the ongoing \u200dantitrust \u200bcase\u200c between the Justice \u200cDepartment \u2063and\u2064 Google, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\">click here<\/a> to read more from The Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Microsoft has cautioned about Chinese state-affiliated actors effectively posing as American voters. In a recent threat intelligence report, Microsoft highlighted the growing capabilities of Chinese and North Korean state actors in destabilizing the U.S. and its allies. The report specifically emphasized Chinese social media campaigns, revealing their impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2024699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2024698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2024699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2024698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2024698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2024698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}